Seminar om Vestafrikas fødevarer og generalforsamling i DDRN

Seminaret om “Preserving African Food Microorganisms for Green Growth” – a Danida-funded research project about how to obtain a sustainable West African food production finder sted fra kl. 16 til 17.
 
Generalforsamlingen hos Danish Development Research Network (DDRN) løber af stablen fra kl. 17 til 18.

DDRN invites all for the annual General Assembly preceded by a seminar by Moses Mengu.

Program

16:00 – 17:00 “Preserving African Food Microorganisms for Green Growth”

Presentation by Moses Mengu, Director, International Centre, Danish Technological Institute (DTI).

17:00 – 18:00 DDRN's General Assembly

Om projektet

The aim of the project is to turn the food sector in West Africa into a driver of sustainable growth, improve food security, create new business opportunities, ensure job generation, alleviate poverty and create stronger linkages between relevant stakeholders.

The major part of West African foods are fermented (i.e. foods produced by the activity of microorganisms) and do play a predominant role in the diet of West Africans.

Fermented foods have many advantages; they are produced from local crops, at reduced energy cost, they are nutritious and generally free from pathogens, they have a long shelf life and can be stored unrefrigerated.

They are mainly produced and sold by women and constitute an important source of family income. Globalization and urbanization however challenge the traditional food culture and thereby the livelihood of many families.
 
To preserve these valuable foods it is important to up-scale from household to semi-industrial scale, control these otherwise spontaneous fermentation by adding starter cultures, introduce quality control systems, increase the productivity and quality in the production chain, improve marketability by developing business models and implement sustainable packaging technologies and ways of distribution.

West African microorganisms are unique and an important natural biological resource well-suited to the West African climate and crops.

To obtain a sustainable West African food production it is therefore important to preserve the inherent microbiota of West African fermented foods.
 
The project will

– isolate and scientifically characterize these microorganisms, establish national bio-banks in Ghana, Burkina Faso and Benin,

– develop technologies for production and distribution of starter cultures to SMEs,

– create new market opportunities through up-scaling from house-hold to semi-industrial scale,

– upgrade specific indigenous foods to convenience food – produced and packaged to fulfil the needs of an urbanized population.

Source:

http://drp.dfcentre.com/project/preserving-african-food-microorganisms-green-growth  

DDRN General Assembly 2016

Members are encouraged to stand for election to the new working DDRN board.

To stand for election for the board or for more information please write to [email protected].

The draft Agenda for the GA:

1. Election of chairperson and secretary
2. Approval of the agenda
3. Report by the board
4. Presentation of accounts
5. Proposals received to be discussed and /or presented
6. Presentation of working agenda for the forthcoming year
7. Presentation of budget proposal for the forthcoming year
8. Election of board members, substitutes, treasurers and auditors
9. Any other business

Please REGISTER with DDRN's student assistant (Sofie Hvid Rasmussen) via e-mail [email protected]

Please note that DDRN is not able to refund members' travels for participating in the GA.